That’s on the whole probably good news, though I’m having trouble finding immediate satisfaction. Banning plastic bags doesn’t necessarily mean less of an impact on the environment. Not without a behavior change, as well.
Plastic bags have the lowest carbon footprint to produce and distribute compared to paper, polypropylene, or cotton. In many places plastic bags (including small produce bags) can be recycled at the grocery store (two near me do but it’s easy to miss). I also found plastic very easy to reuse. It’s a bit annoying to have to buy trashbags when my reused grocery bags worked fine and were made of less material.
Reusable totes are only as eco friendly as they are reused (about 130 times to equal plastic). Forgetting them and amassing a huge collection is not progress nor is using paper bags once and then recycling them. source
Happy to see attention on the issue but as I haven’t always appreciated the nuances or been wary of the green washing in the past, I thought this was worth sharing. Progress is rarely as simple as a new regulation or new product, as strong capitalist forces would want us to believe. If we want meaningful progress we need to foster a culture that consumes less and reuses more.
recycling thin films often doesn’t happen without specialized equipment and most regions don’t have it. so they collect it, but… it probably goes to a landfill.
Why do people only ever talk about the carbon footprint when plastic bans are discussed?
Plastic waste is lying around everywhere, microplastics have been found in placentas and brain stems, the great pacific garbage patch is larger than some micro states.
The environment consists of more than just the atmosphere and we should reduce both greenhouse gases and plastic waste.
Also
plastic bags (including small produce bags) can be recycled at the grocery store (two near me do but it’s easy to miss). I also found plastic very easy to reuse.
That may be so but many people do not recycle or reuse their plastic bags. I would assume this measure is aimed more at them then at you.
Why do people only ever talk about the carbon footprint when plastic bans are discussed?
This is not the case. Ai, crypto, airplanes, cars, meat production, fertilizers, etc are more are on my radar than bag bans. Suggesting otherwise feels combative. I agree that we should reduce both greenhouse gases and plastic waste. I didn’t say or even suggest we shouldn’t reduce plastic waste. My last sentence (“… we need to foster a culture that consumes less and reuses more.”) is inclusive of reducing plastic use and waste.
many people do not recycle or reuse their plastic bags. I would assume this measure is aimed more at them then at you.
And that’s why my response was about the behavioral and cultural change. The unintuitive fact about plastic vs paper bag carbon emissions was something I heard about a decade ago and it helped push my understanding of environment impact beyond simply “plastic bad, paper good,” and focusing only on waste and not manufacturing and distribution, as well. Regulation is just one tool, and a blunt one at that, but individual choices matter and can operate with more nuance for better results. To be clear, that’s not an argument against regulation, it’s an argument for acting beyond the baseline that regulation sets.
And let’s be honest: Whenever someone post a sarcastic ‘good thing we banned plastic straws’ under a topic about CO2 emissions, they’re not doing it as a good faith argument that one pollution might avoid the other.
one reuse is better than zero, and the old plastic bags were so poor quality, that was t guaranteed
he was going t use a bin bag and throw it in a landfill either way. Isn’t it preferable to do that with a reused bag, vs going out and buying a brand new bin bag?
I’ve never viewed getting rid of plastic bags as a carbon saving measure. To me it’s addressing how bad they are when they get into the environment. As much as these bags can be reused, most aren’t and they just end up thrown out.
They’re no problem when properly thrown out, but a huge problem when people litter with them as happens far too much. I hate to see us all punished because a significant portion of people can’t stop littering, but I can’t see us stopping them…
That’s on the whole probably good news, though I’m having trouble finding immediate satisfaction. Banning plastic bags doesn’t necessarily mean less of an impact on the environment. Not without a behavior change, as well.
Plastic bags have the lowest carbon footprint to produce and distribute compared to paper, polypropylene, or cotton. In many places plastic bags (including small produce bags) can be recycled at the grocery store (two near me do but it’s easy to miss). I also found plastic very easy to reuse. It’s a bit annoying to have to buy trashbags when my reused grocery bags worked fine and were made of less material.
Reusable totes are only as eco friendly as they are reused (about 130 times to equal plastic). Forgetting them and amassing a huge collection is not progress nor is using paper bags once and then recycling them. source
Happy to see attention on the issue but as I haven’t always appreciated the nuances or been wary of the green washing in the past, I thought this was worth sharing. Progress is rarely as simple as a new regulation or new product, as strong capitalist forces would want us to believe. If we want meaningful progress we need to foster a culture that consumes less and reuses more.
recycling thin films often doesn’t happen without specialized equipment and most regions don’t have it. so they collect it, but… it probably goes to a landfill.
Why do people only ever talk about the carbon footprint when plastic bans are discussed?
Plastic waste is lying around everywhere, microplastics have been found in placentas and brain stems, the great pacific garbage patch is larger than some micro states.
The environment consists of more than just the atmosphere and we should reduce both greenhouse gases and plastic waste.
Also
That may be so but many people do not recycle or reuse their plastic bags. I would assume this measure is aimed more at them then at you.
This is not the case. Ai, crypto, airplanes, cars, meat production, fertilizers, etc are more are on my radar than bag bans. Suggesting otherwise feels combative. I agree that we should reduce both greenhouse gases and plastic waste. I didn’t say or even suggest we shouldn’t reduce plastic waste. My last sentence (“… we need to foster a culture that consumes less and reuses more.”) is inclusive of reducing plastic use and waste.
And that’s why my response was about the behavioral and cultural change. The unintuitive fact about plastic vs paper bag carbon emissions was something I heard about a decade ago and it helped push my understanding of environment impact beyond simply “plastic bad, paper good,” and focusing only on waste and not manufacturing and distribution, as well. Regulation is just one tool, and a blunt one at that, but individual choices matter and can operate with more nuance for better results. To be clear, that’s not an argument against regulation, it’s an argument for acting beyond the baseline that regulation sets.
Edit: formatting, brevity, clarity, typo
The garbage patch is mostly fishing gear
To remind people they pollute in multiple ways, and reducing one way might increase the other way.
However I’ve never seen a good comparison of the relative severity, only opinion. Is the apple worse for the environment , or the orange?
As I’ve said before, why not try to reduce both?
And let’s be honest: Whenever someone post a sarcastic ‘good thing we banned plastic straws’ under a topic about CO2 emissions, they’re not doing it as a good faith argument that one pollution might avoid the other.
By which he means he used it as a bin bag and threw it into landfill on the second use
Smh
I’ve never viewed getting rid of plastic bags as a carbon saving measure. To me it’s addressing how bad they are when they get into the environment. As much as these bags can be reused, most aren’t and they just end up thrown out.
They’re no problem when properly thrown out, but a huge problem when people litter with them as happens far too much. I hate to see us all punished because a significant portion of people can’t stop littering, but I can’t see us stopping them…